Deconstructing the Duck Hunt Dog
The gaming villain who had the greatest impact on me at a young age wasn’t Ganon, Ridley, or even Bowser… it was the Duck Hunt Dog. It wasn’t because he […]
StarFox 64: “Do a Barrel Roll”!
When a supporting character in a video game gives us instructions it is typically designed to be helpful, acting as in-game representative of the game developer to give us clues […]
Dr. Mario’s Secret: Overcoming Evil With Good
While most of Mario’s gaming adventures are designed around demonstrating his physical acrobatics, in his exploits as “Dr. Mario” he gets to show off his more cerebral side by carefully […]
The Legend of Zelda: The Problem With Taking a “Hack and Slash” Approach to Every Situation
In the worlds of Hyrule and beyond, I typically lean towards a “hack and slash” approach, even when the game provides me with more nuanced options. Mission that’s designed for […]
Link: A Silent Protagonist and the Importance of Watching Our Words
For years, one of Link’s most consistent and defining characteristics was that he didn’t really have much to say. While many adventure games give their protagonists robust dialogue trees or […]
“Balloon Battles” in Mario Kart: The Last Balloon
“Balloon battle” mode turns the competitive races of Mario Kart into an entirely different game, with each participant starting the match with a limited number of balloons that are depleted […]
Mario Kart: What to Do When We Fall Off of the Track
Even the most skilled veteran on the race track will eventually have a “spin-out” moment in Mario Kart… perhaps an adversary landed a blue shell attack and took us out, […]
An “Ugly Sonic” Start, a “Super Sonic” Finish
Video games have a really poor track record of becoming successful movies, and it looked like that trend would continue when the first images of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie […]
Difficulty Settings: Showing His Standard of Love
For years, most video games only included one standard difficulty level… if the game was too challenging for us to play at its’ default setting, our options were pretty limited. Sometimes, […]
Sonic and Shadow: Parallel Pains, Diverging Destinies
In many ways Sonic and Shadow’s journeys run parallel to each other, as both hedgehogs have endured far more than their fair share of painful losses and unprovoked challenges in […]
Finding God in Video Games 